


May it be

by PowerfulTenderness



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/F, Lord of the Rings references, One Shot, POV Second Person
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-12
Updated: 2019-09-12
Packaged: 2020-10-17 01:16:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,416
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20612519
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PowerfulTenderness/pseuds/PowerfulTenderness
Summary: It was your job to raise the last Asgardian Pegasus. And you do so, with a little help from the last Valkyrie.





	May it be

**Author's Note:**

> This came about from my crush on Tessa Thompson and from learning that the Pegasus Valkyrie rode in End Game is named Aragorn.

_Do not panic. Focus. You **must **protect the egg at all costs. Ignore the screams. Ignore the blood. Ignore...your family. **They’re already gone.   
**_

“Leave it! Don’t take anything, just run!” Valkyrie’s voice rang over the chaos as she urged as many people to the escape pods as possible. 

You ran towards her voice, but as you saw people drop their precious items following her command you did what was probably the stupidest thing in all of Asgardian history. You stuffed the large egg into your tunic and held onto it like you’d seen pregnant women holding their bellies. Someone, a kind soul you would never forget but sadly would never learn his name, ushered you to the front when he saw your “belly”.

Together with Thor, Valkyrie blocked an attack headed in the direction of those evacuating. Just as you entered the escape pod, Thor pushed her into it with you, “Go!” He yelled as he slammed the door shut, locking her in the escape pod as he continued to fight off Thanos’s invasion.

Valkyrie screamed for her king, her friend, and pounded on the door before it took off from the main ship and headed to its destination: Midgard. 

~*~

No one dared to approach Valkyrie for hours, she was still fuming. But she, like everyone else, was also mourning. You were the first to speak to her. You sat down next to her, the seat had opened up when things became stable enough that people could stretch their legs. Many people were just pacing out nervous energy. 

“Thank you,” you said softly. 

Her head snapped to you, eyes red from tears, and she glared at you. “For what?”

You weren’t going to be intimidated by her anger. She was a warrior, after all, and likely felt that her place wasn’t here with the women and children. Nervously you wrapped your arms around the egg inside your tunic, “For saving us.” 

Valkyrie’s bloodshot eyes looked you up and down before settling on your hands around your belly. For a moment her eyes softened then she looked away with a scoff. “I didn’t save everyone.”

You hummed, “Thor, Loki and Heimdall. And the Hulk,” you added as an afterthought, still not used to the shape shifting midgardian. “Are there. They’ll avenge our people and meet us in New Asgard.” They were either gods or indestructible, after all. 

~*~

It wasn’t until you arrived on Midgard and not only did Thor and the others not follow, something worse happened, that you realized how wrong your words had been. The already decimated Asgardian population was cut in half yet again. You were cooking over an open fire pit, no shelters had been built yet, when the man you were serving faded into dust, the bowl in his hands falling to the ground with a clatter. 

Your heart dropped and you called out to the one person who had been holding the asgardians together. “Brunnhilde!” You called her given name, not her title, as you ran, hoping and praying as you ran through ashes that she wasn’t one of them. If she faded too, Asgard would truly be lost. 

Valkyrie was kneeling on the ground, the form of a fellow Asgardian fading in her arms as she frantically asked them to hold on. They didn’t. 

“Brunnhilde!” You yelled again, catching her attention. 

Her head snapped up as your voice reached her ears. She quickly stood up and ran to you, wrapping you up in her arms as you threw yourself at her. You were shaking, fear seizing even the marrow in your bones as you cried into her shoulder. “W...What’s happening?” You hiccuped between sobs.

She held you tighter, as if you might fade to dust too and could only whisper, “I don’t know.” 

~*~

Thor returned.

But Loki and Heimdall did not. 

~*~

It had been about a month since Thanos’ death and New Asgard continued. Thor had retreated into himself, too hurt by the double loss of his brother and his best friend to do anything other than drink.

Life moves on and you tried your best to keep up. You were just finishing up your meal, you were always the last to eat as it was your job to serve the communal meal, when Brunnhilde came up to you.

“Hey, you just about done here? I want to talk to you.”

You nodded, “Of course, m’lady.”

Afterall, she was essentially Asgard’s interim ruler. 

You took a moment to quickly clean up before you followed her. She led you to where no one could overhear and your heart skipped a beat. Over the last few weeks you had worked closely with the lone Valkyrie, was this a sign that she felt just as close to you as you did her?

She cleared her throat, “I’ve been meaning to ask. What, uhm, what happened to your baby?”

You paled and dropped your hands to your flat tummy. At first you were able to hide the fact that you didn’t have a round belly with baggy clothing, it’s not like anyone was wearing anything extravagant in New Asgard. The physical labor that went into building New Asgard into a livable place and community combined with the fact the food wasn’t nearly as rich as you were used to had begun to melt the extra fat you were carrying around your midsection. It seemed you were no longer able to pull off being a pregnant woman. 

“...About that…” 

You led her to your little cabin, painfully aware that you’d been given your own space precisely because people thought you were pregnant. Inside the cabin there was a fire pit, which took up most of the space, and a simple bedroll off to the side. No other amenities graced your cabin, but you had taken up some effort to decorate the bare walls with your own woven tapestry. 

You kneeled down in front of the banked coals of the fire pit, they were still hot and glowing just a little, and started to dig up a bundle of the same simple woven design as the wall tapestries. You stared at the warm bundle now in your lap. If you admitted that you got passage on one of the escape pods because you feigned a pregnancy...well, depending on how harsh others saw it, the penalty could be death. 

“This,” you took a deep breath, “is what I was hiding in my tunic.” You carefully unwrapped the bundle and showed her.

She blinked a few times and looked at you incredulously. “An egg? You were hiding an egg?” 

You nodded and softly rubbed a circle on the smooth white shell. “A pegasus egg.”

Her eyebrows shot up and she kneeled down in the soft earth next to you and stared at the egg in awe. “How did you get this?” 

“There a several subspecies of pegasi, but only one native to Asgard. They were already endangered prior to Ragnarok. And now this is the last egg of the species. My family was part of the effort to breed them,” you paused to swallow the sob that nearly came up as you remembered your family. “We managed to save an entire clutch before...before…”

You blinked back tears and looked up at her, braving looking into the warm depths of her eyes. “I know it was wrong of me to pretend that I was pregnant, but I had to think quickly. Sentence me to death if you must, but protect the egg. It is the last of its species. It deserves to live.” 

Brunnhilde stared into your eyes as she listened to your speech. She looked down at the egg then back at you with a small smile and placed a comforting hand on your shoulder. “Enough Asgardians have died. Besides, you were right. It was worth the effort to save this egg.”

You let out a shaky breath, glad that you weren’t going to die. “Thank you!” Without thinking you wrapped an arm around her, your other hand keeping a gentle hold on the egg. 

Brunnhilde hesitated for a second but returned your hug. She pulled away with a smile and looked at the egg again, “How long until it hatches?”

You hummed in thought as you tried to calculate when the pegasus would hatch. “It will be months yet. Pegasi take a long time to incubate.” You wrapped up the egg again and set it back on the soft sand and covering it so that the heat would not dissipate. 

She stood up and dusted off her knees, “Right. Well, if you need anything for this little guy or girl, you let me know.”

You nodded and smiled up at her. “Thank you.”

~*~

Five months later Thor, Brunnhilde and the last of the Asgardian nobles had their own houses. Houses, not cabins or huts, but proper Midgardian houses. Running water, electricity and all. 

You were still living in your small cabin with the firepit, caring for the last Asgardian pegasus egg. You had just covered the egg back up when Brunnhilde walked in, without knocking, wearing a huge grin on her face. “Guess who got Dish!” 

Taking another second to make sure the egg was secure, you smiled, “Thor did. He’s been telling everyone.” It was nice to see your king in some kind of high spirits, even if it was because of some Midgardian distraction.

She rolled her eyes, “No! Me!” 

This time you turned your smile on her, “Wonderful. Do you have this Cinemax that Thor keeps speaking of?”

She nodded and tugged your arm, “Come!” 

You giggled as she nearly lifted you off the ground in her excitement. Midgard was taking some time to get used to, but it certainly had some benefits that Asgard didn’t have. Despite all the horrible things that happened, if they hadn’t happened you wouldn’t have met your best friend.

Settled on Brunnhilde’s couch, much more comfortable than the sleeping roll you insisted on keeping (since you still felt guilty about lying to the Asgardians about your pregnancy), the two of you decided on a movie.

“The first installment of the trilogy based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings.” She read aloud after several wasted minutes of scrolling through what looked like nonsense. “Sound good?”

You nodded, “Sounds better than the other stuff.”

As the movie started you pondered, “Does that mean there are more movies?”

“Think so. And books. These Midgardians really know how to kill time.” The two of you laughed and leaned against each other. 

That laughter quickly quieted as the movie started with an ominous whisper and an even more ominous narration. One that hit almost too close to the heart. 

_“The world is changed.”_

You spent much of the next two days locked in Brunnhilde’s house watching this Midgardian epic. Together you laughed, cheered and maybe shed a few tears for these fictional characters. The tale of the Fellowship was truly inspiring and you could not get enough. There were more Tolkien movies. So you spent every night possible with Brunnhilde watching movies and dreaming of Middle-Earth. 

~*~

Brunnhilde liked the story of Middle-Earth as much as you did. She surprised you one night by showing you a collection of books, from the trilogy that spawned your now favorite movies to other collections by Tolkien. 

You were not a warrior like her, even if it came time for her to fight again, you could not travel with her. She would never allow you to put yourself in danger like that. But you could travel throughout Middle-Earth together. Not hand in hand, but head in lap, as it was now. 

She was resting after a tiring day, Thor had been particularly prickly and she had to deal with him and the rest of the Asgardians, and wanted nothing more than to relax. She almost sent you away when you knocked on her door, but stopped herself. Partly because you were holding a sweet snack that you had baked and partly because all she needed was to hear the sweet ring of your voice to chase away the headache. 

Even with her eyes closed and an arm thrown over her face, you could tell she was listening to you as you read aloud The Council of Elrond to her.

_“All that is gold does not glitter, _

_Not all those who wander are lost;_

_The old that is strong does not wither, _

_ Deep roots are not reached by the frost. _

_From the ashes a fire shall be woken, _

_A light from the shadows shall spring;_

_Renewed shall be the blade that is broken:_

_The crownless again shall be king.”_

“Mmm. That’s beautiful.” She interrupted you, making you giggle.

“Let me finish the paragraph at least!” You chided.

She moved her arm down and grinned up at you. “Ok! Ok! Please continue, _my lady_.” She teased, smiling even more as you blushed at her words.

You cleared your throat and continued in your best _Bilbo _voice:_ “Not very good perhaps-” _

Bilbo’s own dismissal of his verse sent you and Brunnhilde into a fit of giggles. “See! You stopped me too soon!” You chuckled.

Though Brunnhilde still smiled, she looked up at you wistfully. “He’s just being modest. Don’t you think it’s beautiful?”

You glanced away from the book and into her eyes. This little passage resonated with her, with the plight of New Asgard. You smiled softly at her. “Of course. But we keep interrupting the council.” 

She chuckled. “Well, we can’t keep the council waiting.” 

You finished the chapter, stopping before the Fellowship embarked on their journey south. 

Some nights you read to Brunnhilde. Some nights she read to you. Some nights you just enjoyed each other's company.

~*~

You never forgot your mission, you reason for being in New Asgard. You were to hatch and raise the last Asgardian pegasus. You couldn’t save the species, but it would be an honor to have Brunnhilde, the last Valkyrie take your pegasus as her personal mount. She didn’t know this though, you didn't have the words to ask her yet. 

At least she was there for you and the egg. You were in your cabin, Brunnhilde sitting near the fire pit as you checked on the egg.

One of dark brows raised as she saw you unwrap the bundle and check the egg for any mars. “It’s bigger!” She exclaimed.

You nodded. “They are magical creatures. It is said that in days long past, the best pegasus breeders could get their eggs to grow so large that it would hatch a fully grown pegasus.” 

“That can’t be true!” She scoffed and took a swig of the beer she had in hand.

You shrugged and wrapped up the egg again. A part of you wanted to ask her if she could remember any such thing. She was older than you, the Valkyrie being hardly more than myth by the time you were old enough to begin your career as a breeder. Surely she saw many pegasi in her day, wouldn’t she know? 

Almost as if she could read your mind she glared at you. You knew her well enough to know that she didn’t like talking about her time as a Valkyrie, before Hela, the goddess of death, killed every other Valkyrie. And she knew you well enough to know that was exactly what you were thinking.

But you hadn’t said anything, too well mannered to speak your thoughts aloud, and so she had no reason to be mad at you. Even though she was. “Right. Well, I’m off.” She grunted, throwing the empty beer bottle into the recycling bin you had in the corner with enough force to shatter it. 

You hid your small flinch and didn’t move, “G’night.” you replied weakly. 

She grunted again and stormed off, leaving you with a mystery you might never know the answer to. 

~*~

You were asleep in your cabin, now furnished with a more comfortable bed (Brunnhilde’s apology gift) when you heard something scratching the sand near your fire pit. Your eyes snapped open and adjusted to the dim light of banked coals. There was no mistaking it! The egg was hatching! You jumped up and pulled the egg from the sand and unwrapped it, though you kept it balanced on the blanket near the warm coals. 

“Hang on, little buddy!” You said as you stuffed your feet in slippers and ran out of your cabin.

“‘Hilde! Brunnhilde! Valkyrie!” You yelled as you pounded on her door. 

She was quick, even rattled from sleep. “What? Is something wrong?”

“It’s hatching!” You grabbed her hand and pulled her back to your cabin, not that she needed the extra encouragement. Your words were enough to fuel her to sprint to the egg.

It was still some hours before the egg hatched, the initial excitement wearing down slightly but still buzzing under your skin. The two of you ended up watching the fire pit perched on your bed.

“What do you think we should name it?” You asked as you leaned forward at another crack forming along the side of the egg.

“Don’t you think we should wait to see if it’s a boy or girl, first?” She replied.

“I suppose you’re right.” That didn’t stop you from mentally scanning a list of names you already had in mind. Most were names of fallen Asgardians but you couldn’t bring yourself to say them aloud, especially not near Valkyrie; the pain of losing fellow warriors was too close to her heart still.

“What about _Shadowfax_?” She asked suddenly, looking at you and thinking of the wild horse that Gandalf used as a steed.

You chuckled, “Well, if it looks anything like it’s parents, it would be an appropriate name.”

She blinked, “You know what it’s parents looked like?”

Both a surge of pride and sadness swelled in you, you chose to focus on the pride. “Of course! I think it may have undersold just how big a role my family played in the breeding program. We had the largest stable of pegasi on Asgard. Though, in honesty, even that wasn’t very large. Pegasus are known to be finicky in choosing their mates and they mate for life. But still! I long ago memorized every sire and mare and offspring.” 

“They mate for life?”

You nodded sadly. “It’s part of the reason why their number remained so small. And now…” You trialed off, unwilling to admit that though you saved this egg, one pegasus alone could not save it’s species from extinction. 

Whatever comforting words she might have said died before they passed her lips. The first audible crack from the egg made the both of you jump up and rush closer to it. It rocked from side to side and you could even hear little whines as the miniature pegasus forced its hooves through the fragile shell of it’s egg. 

Next to you, Brunnhilde gasped and reached out to pick a piece of the shell off. 

“No!” You quickly stopped her by grabbing her hand. “You have to let them do it themselves.” You explained.

“Right. Sorry.” She apologized quietly, still entranced by the sight of the pegasus hatching and still holding onto your hand. 

Finally, the baby pegasus pushed a large piece of the shell off it’s tiny head, and tumbled out of the egg. It was about the size of a house cat and pure white, with pin feathered wings stretching along its back. It gave a high pitched whinny and stumbled on it’s long legs around you and Valkyrie. 

“It’s so small!” She exclaimed with wide eyes and an even wider smile. “Is it really going to grow as big as the winged steeds I’ve seen before?”

You giggled at the sight of the baby attempting to run around the two of you, looking up at you like you were his parents. “Yep! It’ll be four years before he’s fully grown.”

“It’s a boy!” She gasped out, clapping her hands together. 

The pegasus pranced over to you and nudged you, smelling the bottle of milk that you had prepared while you were waiting for it to hatch. 

“May I?” She asked to pet the small creature while it started to drink the offered bottle.

You nodded, “Just be careful of his wings.” 

She gently caressed a single finger down the foal’s back, between his wings. “What about _Aragorn_?” She asked looking up to you.

You smiled as you glanced at her and nodded. “Aragorn? Yes. It suits him perfectly.” 

He’ll be a king. 

~*~

You babied Aragorn for a month, allowed Brunnhilde and the other Asgardians to indulge him, but after a month he no longer needed to be bottle fed. That was when you began training him. First you started with getting him used to carrying things on his back. The residents of New Asgard thought it was the cutest thing to have the young pegasus deliver their items strapped in saddle bags. 

Then you trained him in proper use of his wings. This was not only difficult, for you had no older and calmer pegasus to help teach him, but there were times when the young colt dashed off into the air where you could not follow. Thor was a major help here, you or Valkyrie would run to Thor’s house and he’d fly after Aragorn and bring him back. These were small moments where the old Thor shined through, a gentle soul willing to do anything to help those in need. 

By time you, Brunnhilde and Thor had earned Aragorn’s trust and love, he was big enough that he could carry smaller riders. You were the first to jump onto his back, Valkyrie and Thor there ready to catch you if you were thrown off mid-air. 

While you were getting Aragorn used to having a rider, Brunnhilde set up a training course for him. It wasn’t just jumps on the ground, but obstacles that were suspended mid-air. You trusted that she knew what she was doing here. After all, your family might have been excellent pegasi breeders and trained the juvenile pegasi, but Brunnhilde was a Valkyrie, she know how to maneuver a pegasus in battle.

~*~

Brunnhilde continued to train him daily, performing extraordinary aerial maneuvers, but it was still years of Aragorn serving as a glorified delivery mount. Until the day when those who vanished returned. 

You were taking a stroll in the hills of New Asgard when you saw the flickering magical sparks. “What is that, Aragorn? Let’s go check it out.” 

As you rode through New Asgard you saw faces you hadn’t seen since the snap. Confused but ever determined to find out what you were seeing, you looked for your trusted partner. You used the vantage of being airborne to find her. 

Valkyrie, for that was who she was in full battle gear like that, was standing in front of a full unit of battle ready Einherjar, Asgardian warriors. She was giving them a rousing speech, at least that’s what you thought she was saying, you were still too far away to hear her properly. Magical sparks appeared again as a wizard opened a portal and Valkyrie was ready to step through. 

“Wait! Brunnhilde!” You called, rushing Aragorn to meet her and the warriors before they stepped through the portal. 

As Aragorn’s hooves hit the ground, Brunnhilde turned, her royal blue cloak swirling around her and her long braid swinging over her shoulder. Her shining armor matched Aragorn’s coat, the golden lines of her armor reflecting the sunset and complementing both her and Aragorn. You felt yourself blushing as you looked at her. You’d only seen her fight, really fight, once. That was during Thanos’ initial attack on the Asgardian vessel and she hadn’t had the time to don her armor. 

Whatever was happening, someone would explain later, she was undoubtedly going into battle and you wanted a part of you to go with her. Everyone believed that Aragorn belonged to you, but you raised him together with her. He was as much her mount as he was yours.

You nudged Aragorn forward, putting some horseflesh between you and your crush, to hide the flustered look that undoubtedly crossed your face. “You should take him. He’s ready.” 

Brunnhilde raised her hands and stroked Aragorn’s muzzle, breathing softly in greeting to the stallion. She gently moved Aragorn’s face to the side, putting her close to you again. “Are you sure? He’s your pegasus, he’s important to you. I can’t take him where he will be in danger.”

You nodded and cast your eyes down, so nervous that you would rather look at the ground than at her. “I love him, and we raised him together. But you’re right. He’s mine. _And mine to give to whom I will, like my heart_.” You wanted to giggle at the reference but no matter how silly you felt for quoting the_ Lord of the Rings_, it was still a confession of feelings you hid for years. 

Brunnhilde smiled and squeezed your hands softly before moving one hand to gently run her thumb along your jawline. “Thank you.” Slowly, gently, she moved her lips to yours in a light kiss. Despite the somewhat harsh winds of New Asgard, despite the hard work she put in everyday, her lips were soft. Too soft. Before you could enjoy the full sensation of her lips against yours, she pulled away. This wasn’t the time to stop her either.

You stepped back and watched her easily swing her legs over Aragorn’s back. She looked back at you and grinned, then looked to the Einherjar, “Asgardians! Let’s get those bastards!” 

Everyone, not just the warriors, cheered as Valkyrie and the Einherjar charged through the portal to fight Thanos and his forces, to avenge their people. 

~Afterward~ 

Together with Brunnhilde and Aragorn, you watched Thor’s new spacecraft ascend into the atmosphere. 

“I asked Thor for a favor before he left.” She said when she could no longer see the craft.

“What?”

“I asked him to send word if he found more pegasi out there. Perhaps Aragorn doesn’t have to be the last of his line.”

You smiled and turned to her. “Ever thoughtful, you grace.”

“Your grace’?” She started with furrowed brows, then paused with a grin. “I suppose I am. You know. I should need a queen.” 

You chuckled as she waggled her eyebrows suggestively, but accepted her kiss nonetheless. 


End file.
